In the installation of stucco finishes and the like to the exterior walls of structures some mechanism is required to support the applied stucco and retain in upon the wall to which it is applied. The devices intended for this purpose are referred to in the art as banding beads.
In recent years, the desire to have “stuccoed” exteriors that more closely resemble siding or clapboard building exterior finishes has led to the development of stucco treatments that do in fact resemble such structural finishes. This development has, in turn, led to the need for banding bead of a somewhat different design to achieve the “layered” look of such exterior finishes. Such modified banding beads are referred to in the art as step bead and a cross-section of one such device is depicted in attached FIG. 1 which is described below. Step bead allows for the application of stucco in a manner that the thickness of the stucco at the top of any single horizontal tier of applied stucco is thinner than that at the bottom or base of such tier thus providing the siding or clapboard look that is common in structures having wood or similar materials applied thereto in a clapboard or horizontal siding arrangement. While step bead of the type shown in FIG. 1 and described in greater detail below has proven satisfactory in the previously described stucco installations, it has also demonstrated a number of shortcomings. Among these are: 1) a lack of secure attachment points for attaching the step bead to the exterior of a structure covered with, for example, plywood or other sheathing; and 2) the presence of a mechanism that inhibits the infiltration of water/moisture between descending layers of step bead having over-applied layers of stucco adhered thereto.
Thus, there remains a need for an enhanced step bead that overcomes these shortcomings of currently commercially available step bead products.